HIV

Health officials across the state are urging people to get tested for HIV. Monday is World AIDS Day.

There are an estimated 21,300 people living with HIV in the state, according to Michigan’s Department of Community Health. The number of diagnoses outpaces deaths associated with the virus, so the number of people living with HIV is up.

MDCH reports an average of 809 new cases were diagnosed each year from 2008 to 2012.

Almost two-thirds of those living with the virus live in metro Detroit. The impact on black males is the greatest.

I can only imagine, thinking you might have been exposed to HIV might be one of the scariest things of a person’s life. Am I infected? Will I get AIDS?

Even more traumatic, is contracting it because you were sexually assaulted.

David—not his real name— says he was at a bar one night late in 2009. He was hoping for a ride home. He ended up at another man’s house and they had sex. David says it was unwanted, that it was sexual assault.

“He doesn’t think he assaulted me. So, uhm. But, he was going to against my will.”